Microsoft has announced that Notepad and Paint will have certain features locked behind a paid Microsoft 365 subscription. Users can still access Notepad and Paint without a subscription, but they will miss out on the latest features. In Notepad, spell checks will remain available, but features such as AI rewriting of text selections, AI generation of alternative versions of text selections, and AI shortening or lengthening of text selections will require a subscription. In Paint, the Image Creator feature, which uses OpenAI’s Dall-E for image generation, will be behind the paywall, while the background removal tool will remain accessible to all users. The subscription for Microsoft 365 starts at .99 per month or .99 annually.